This fall marks 10 years since the 2015 protests at the University of Missouri became the center of a national conversation on race and inequality, leading to the resignations of two senior administrators–UM System President Tim Wolfe and MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.
During this time, racial tensions throughout the country were high — just a year before these protests, Michael Brown was fatally shot in Ferguson, Missouri.
Black students felt the racial strain through the actions of their peers. Students reported being called racial slurs and receiving threats, such as a noose being hung on a student’s door and a lack of action from campus leaders.
Eleven students came together to campaign for equality on campus. They formed the group Concerned Student 1950, which was named after the year Mizzou admitted its first Black student.
One of the founding members, Reuben Faloughi, was a psychology doctoral student at the time. He experienced microaggressions from the people around him, namely a professor who told Faloughi, who was the only Black person in the class, to play rap music for everyone.
“That’s the stereotype that, you know, Black people can only be athletes and entertainers, and that I’m not here to be a scholar, a doctoral scholar at that, you know? I’m here to entertain people,” Faloughi said.
This experience and those of his peers led Faloughi to form Concerned Student 1950. Faloughi and the other members felt that the administration was not listening to their issues.
“They would say they would do things, and maybe they were doing things, but the change wasn’t happening at the pace we needed it to as Black students,” Faloughi said. “It felt like our concerns were falling on deaf ears.”
Concerned Student 1950 wanted to do something to enact change, so they decided to block Wolfe’s car during the 2015 Homecoming parade. Every member of Concerned Student 1950 interlocked arms in front of Wolfe’s car and spoke about the history of Black people at Mizzou. This demonstration included information about Lloyd Gaines, who was denied admission to the law school, leading to a Supreme Court case in 1938, which he won. The Supreme Court did not make Mizzou accept Gaines and instead required the state to create a public law school that admitted Black people. Twelve years later, Gus T. Ridgel was the first Black person admitted to Mizzou in 1950.
“My ideal scenario wasn’t us protesting,” Faloughi said. “I wish we didn’t have to, but that was the best way we knew how to communicate.”
There was no change following the homecoming demonstration, so Jonathan Butler, a graduate student and founding member of Concerned Student 1950, decided to go on a hunger strike that called for the resignations of Wolfe and Loftin.
During the week-long hunger strike, tents were set up throughout Carnahan Quadrangle, providing a space for people to come and learn about the injustices Black students faced and why Butler chose to go on his hunger strike.
“To be honest, some of the most beautiful moments I had as a University of Missouri student came during the hunger strike, because it’s like the hunger strike rallied students together,” Faloughi explained.
Faloughi felt overwhelming support during this time, with two tents dedicated to food and other resources that people brought for the people staying in Carnahan Quadrangle to support Butler during the hunger strike.
“That outpour of love was some of the most connecting moments I had as a student,” Faloughi said. “It was like, wow, people do care. Like, if you let them know what’s going on, like, people have hearts. It’s like, ‘Oh, humans can be humans.’”
Some disagreed with the actions of Butler and Concerned Student 1950. During the hunger strike, several individuals visited Carnahan Quadrangle, saying vulgar and hateful things. Some others expressed their disdain online.
“I think I’ve seen some of the darkest parts of humanity during that time,” Faloughi said. “Like the racial vitriol I’ll never forget. It was traumatic, seeing how humans can hate each other.”
Education was a huge part of Concerned Student 1950’s mission; they wanted people to be aware of their experience on campus.
“Racism isn’t always about people actively going out of their way to harm people; sometimes it’s ignorance that can harm people, so as people started to learn what was going on on campus and learn our experience, yeah, they started to care,” Faloughi explained. “They started to want to be involved and ask how they could help.”
After a week of the hunger strike and inaction by campus administration, Faloughi and others met with the football team. Faloughi, who was a linebacker at the University of Georgia during his undergraduate years, was able to relate to the players.
“It wasn’t until the athletes got involved that we really saw how fast our administration, the leaders, could move,” Faloughi said.
The collaboration between the football team and Concerned Student 1950 led to the resignation of Wolfe and Loftin on Nov. 9, 2015.
In Wolfe’s resignation address, he said: “I take full responsibility for this frustration and I take full responsibility for the inaction that has occurred.”
Following the resignations, Faloughi felt the excitement of Black students for the change and the promise of their future. Faloughi went home that night to be by himself and take everything in.
Less than a day after the resignations, death threats were made against Black students on Yik Yak. An arrest was made in connection with this, but many Black students felt unsafe going to campus.
“I remember being very confused about why would they send us to campus even if there was just the perception of threat, like, wouldn’t they want to at least take care of us emotionally or psychologically, like, to just give us the space to to stay away from campus after somebody just said they’re going to kill the people who, kill the Black students who came to campus,” Foloughi said.
Faloughi said that the resignations of top campus leaders did not automatically change the campus environment; Mizzou leaders are still being scrutinized for responses to discrimination by students and community members.
Recently, the annual “Black 2 Class Block Party” hosted by the Legion of Black Collegians was canceled due to discriminatory language towards non-Black students. In 2024, the Inclusion, Diversity and Equity division, which was created in response to the 2015 protests, was dissolved due to impending state and federal legislation. These events and others have led to public outcry, especially from students in marginalized groups.
Faloughi provided advice for students during this time: “If you want something to change, do it yourself.”
